Brooklyn Comics Festival a Cold, Snowy Success

Neither freezing rain nor occasional snow could keep comic lovers away from the first annual Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival held this past Saturday in Williamsburg. Upwards of a thousand bundled and damp fans, artists and presenters braved truly miserable weather to find themselves in the basement of Our Lady of Consolation Church, amongst others of their soggy, enthusiastic ilk.

By noon it was packed. At the entrance lay piles and piles of soaked umbrellas,multi-colored and multi-patterned piles that would remain until the festival’s end. The crowd was eclectic, coeducational and unkempt in the way that is commonly fashionable around the neighborhood. Most of the attendees ranged in their twenties to mid-thirties. Two different groups of cameramen (one of the groups, the guys from Greenpoint-based comics podcast “Pete’s Basement”) were seen going around with microphones and video cameras, interviewing exhibitors.

“You can’t tell the attendees from the artists,” mused Gabriel Fowler, owner of comic store Desert Island, and one of the festival’s organizers, along with Dan Nadel of PictureBox. Indeed, the lines between artist and fan were often blurry; many attendees were artists themselves, doling out comics to exhibitors, and many exhibitors were frequently observed visiting the tables of other exhibitors, trading comics or talking shop.

The festival highlighted alternative and indie artists and publishers, although the delights were varied and many. Ranging from prominent graphic novel publishers Drawn & Quarterly of Montreal to Baltimore zinemakers Closed Caption Comics, there was a lot to see and even a few things to eat: in one corner of the exhibition floor, one could indulge in delicious Bánh mì hotdogs made by local faves Asia dog.

North Brooklyn-based artist and musician Tunde Adebimpe, of TV on the Radio fame, did double duty as a dual exhibitor, presenting his brightly painted boxing comic Plague Hero, whilealso curating the stop animation video that played on a giant television next to the main stage. Adebimpe was seen at his table busily sketching a line drawing of Aladdin Sane-era Bowie for a fan’s sketchbook. At one point in the day, Adebimpe went over to give one of his comics to another artist. From across the table, the two exchanged gracious smiles and brief silences, as if attempting to figure out the appropriate social response for respect and camaraderie. It was a nice moment—and one that happened often. “He’s just as awkward as the rest of us,” remarked a passing attendee.

Adebimpe’s table-mate, artist Domitille Collardey, was there selling copies of her beautifully self-published book What Had Happened Was…,a collection of autobiographical comics about art school, traveling to the US and attending an exhibition of Michael Jackson’s estate in Beverly Hills. The idea of independent artists selling their work at a comic convention is one of the uniquely American aspects about festivals such as this one.“In France,” she said, “there would only be major publishers at something like this.”

The events weren’t limited to the main convention floor. A series of comics-related panels simultaneously took place a few blocks away at art space Secret Project Robot. The final panel of the evening was a “Live Comic Drawing” featuring R. Sikoryak and Gabrielle Bell. Artist Frank Santoro provided rough page layouts for the Sikoryak and Bell to then illustrate a scene from the Odyssey, in which Odysseus and his crew sail past the Isle of Sirens. Santoro’s layout—consisting of intersecting blue and red circles and squares—was based on the Renaissance-era principle, the Golden Proportion.

It was fascinating to note the distinctly differences between the two artists’ creative processes. Sikoryak’s process was methodical, consisting of multiple drafts (the first in blue, the second in black), which were then cut into separate panels, rearranged and pasted into place with scotch tape. Gabrielle Bell’s process consisted of one black marker penned chronologically on a single draft. “Wow, you’re fast,” commented Santoro. As Sikoryak continued to arrange his various panels and drafts, Bell began to color in the various details: blue for the ocean, red for a ship’s sail.

“These are just embellishments,” said Bell, with an apologetic smile.